This story is not mine, I did not write this. One of my good friends in Arizona wrote this and asked me to post this story on FanFiction. There will be more chapters to come :) I like this story a lot and hope you do to. This is semi-based on a true story, but some things have been changed to make it more fitting for Harry Potter type world.

It was a dreary night in the Lyons' home. The rain had just cleared outside and the streets were soggy wet. The leaves of the trees in the front yard dazzled with small droplets of water that, from a distance, looked like tiny crystals. The candle sitting on the dresser was slowly melting to a puddle of wax and Daisy lay in a ball of thick, white fur on the carpet. It was late, and most people would be getting ready for sleep at this time of night. However, that was not the case for Marissa Lyons tonight. Tonight, she doubted she would get much sleep at all. Tears painfully rolled down her pink cheeks as she watched her mother read the dreaded parchment. Marissa studied it as her mother's eyes skimmed the paper. It was in surprisingly good condition, despite the furious storm only moments ago.

Her mother finished and looked away from the letter. "I'm sorry, Marissa. It has to end," Ms. Lyons said as she rolled up the piece of parchment in her hands. She looked down at her daughter who was currently sitting on her bed, knees tucked safely under her arms around her chest. Her face was stained with tears and her eyes were now red and swollen. It pained Ms. Lyons to see her daughter like this and held her hand out to touch her cheek sympathetically. Marissa had no reaction. Her face was completely still, but her pond-green eyes explained everything.

"I just can't believe it," she finally said, her voice bore no emotion, it seemed almost hollow.

Ms. Lyons took a deep breath and sat down next to her, wrapping a loving arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, honey. You've just got to get through it."

Marissa looked up. She had begun to cry again and buried her head in her mother's chest. "Five months, Mum. How much longer will this go on?" she mumbled miserably.

Her mother pushed her up and tilted her daughter's chin so she stared directly into her eyes. "Listen, Marissa. They can't do this forever. He's going to be 18 in only a couple of years. They're being very judgmental and there's nothing either you or Gabe can do about it."

Marissa sat back up and reached for the parchment, now sitting lifelessly in a roll. The owl that had delivered the message was not Abby, the usual one. This owl was midnight black and had a small beige spot around its left eye in a seemingly perfect circle. The owl had an attitude when he delivered it, for he bit Marissa sharply on the finger when she first attempted to untie the parchment from its leg, something she was not used to. She unrolled the parchment once more and skimmed it over, her eyes stinging with each word she read...

Over previous months, I, along with my wife Susan, have discovered our son, Gabriel, corresponding with your daughter via owl. As our family has come from generations of pureblood class, it would be simply outrageous for us as parents to let our son continue contact with your muggleborn daughter. We feel this would be an unrealistic mixture of both blood and houses, for not only has our family descended from purebloods and purebloods only, but we also come from generations of Slytherins, and furthermore could not allow the cycle to end with our son having a relationship with a Gryffindor. From this point on, my wife and I are cutting contact between Gabriel and your daughter and, if found otherwise, consequences will be put into place for them both.

We expect you as a parent to follow through with our expectations.

Regards,

Jim Lawrence

Head of Magical Law Enforcement

Ministry of Magic

Marissa let another heavy sob escape her. She looked down at her hands, now white from clasping her knees so tightly, and discovered they were shaking a bit. The room began to spin slightly and she vaguely noticed she was beginning to feel dizzy. Her mother noticed this.

"You need sleep, sweetheart. We'll talk about this tomorrow morning. Things always seem better when the sun comes out," Ms. Lyons explained.

Her daughter sniffed in silent agreement. Ms. Lyons stood from her bed, gave Marissa a quick kiss on the cheek, then got up and walked out the already open door.

"Close my door!" Marissa shouted after her. Moments later her mother returned and quietly shut the door.

Finally, some alone time. She had been glad her mother was there for her, yes, but this time, she just needed to be alone and to take this all in. She knew it would most definitely not be safe for her to write him at all; she feared her owl, Romeo, would be intercepted by his parents. After far too much thinking, Marissa decided to agree with her mother that it most definitely was time for sleep. She pulled down the sheets and climbed into them, getting comfortable, before blowing out the dim candle on her dresser and falling into a light sleep, one she awoke from many times throughout the night.

Marissa Lyons was, from afar, a seemingly typical teenage girl. She was slightly tall for her age of fourteen and had long dark hair with bangs. Her body was slender, although she had her moments where she refused to believe it. The only thing slightly abnormal about her appearance was her eyes. They were the colour you saw when you opened your eyes under the water of a lake mixed with a light grey colour. That was Marissa's favorite part about herself. Well, physically, that is. She was extremely picky about things, which most found annoying, but she loved it. It annoyed her mother to no end when it came to picking out new clothing or ordering something to eat, but it was a definite advantage for her when it came to picking out boys.

Even in her first year of school.

In her beginning year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Marissa quickly fell in love with magic, having been completely oblivious to it for eleven years until she got her acceptance letter. She did quite well in school, unless it came to Defense Against the Dark Arts. She simply did not understand the subject. It was so complicated and took so much work that Marissa was always having difficulty with it, and Professor Lupin seemed to notice. He asked her if she would be comfortable working with someone for extra help, such as a tutor, and Marissa told him that of course she did not mind.

That's where Gabe came in.

Gabe Lawrence was one year Marissa's senior. He was a second year when they met and the two instantly hit it off. He was tall for his age as well and, by the time he was fifteen, was passing six feet. His eyes were a medium brown, which he liked to call 'boring brown', and even from a distance he could be spotted by just about anyone, for his curly brown hair could be seen from what seemed acres away. Gabe, however, was excellent at Defense Against the Dark Arts and almost always received an Outstanding grade from Professor Lupin. Professor Lupin assigned him to tutor Marissa in hopes of her getting a better view of the subject. Despite the house differences, Gabe happily agreed.

Although they got along surprisingly well, Gabe and Marissa never talked outside of tutoring lessons. Why, however, Marissa didn't find out until later on in her first year, for the segregation of Slytherins and Gryffindors was completely foreign to her.

Over the years, the two slowly became closer and the fact that he was a Slytherin mattered less and less to Gabe. His brainwashing from his family was beginning to wear off and he began to question why he was in Slytherin at all. By the summer going into fourth year, the two would write each other and inform the other of their most exciting and recent activities and by its end, Abby, his owl, had her own place in Romeo's cage and Marissa sometimes even left her her own water dish.

It wasn't until the middle of Marissa's third year and Gabe's fourth that the two began "dating." In both houses most people found it completely unacceptable for a Gryffindor to be dating a Slytherin, but that was only to be expected. Everything was going seemingly fine, but the only thing that really bothered Marissa about her new boyfriend was that he refused to tell his parents about his relationship. She couldn't understand why.

"I've told you a million times, baby. They won't accept it," he explained for the third time this conversation.

It was a Saturday night, late enough to see the Milky Way shining brightly in the night sky. Marissa and Gabe were standing outside around the edge of the Forbidden Forest where it was almost guaranteed that nobody would overhear their conversation but the wind and the stars. Again, they were arguing about the same topic.

"Who cares!" she stated.

"I do," he said simply.

"Why?"

He moved a step closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Marissa melted a little. "Because I'm not going to let them take you from me. I won't."

"But how do you know they just won't be accepting?" she asked softly.

"I know my parents, baby. They won't do it. They'll come up with a million reasons before the let me go out with you, almost all of them having to do with you being a Gryffindor."

"That's not fair."

He sighed. "I know it's not. I hate them for being so prejudiced. But either way, I can't tell them. If I do, it'll be the end of us. Is that what you want?"

She sighed and shook her head slightly. "No."

"Exactly. So will you please just trust me on this one?" he asked.

After a long pause, Marissa nodded. He bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you baby. I wish I could tell them just as much as you do. You know that," he explained.

"I know. Come on, we need to get back to the castle."

"Baby?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Marissa smiled and leaned up to peck him on the lips. "I love you too, babe. Let's get going." With that, she grabbed his hand and together, they began walking back to school, letting the topic go for now, at least.

Now, here they were, over six months later, as miserable as ever. Marissa could just hear his voice saying "I told you so" in her mind. He was right all along, and now she felt bad for arguing at all in the first place. Either way, school was starting again soon and Marissa had until then to wait for him to contact her, if at all. However, beneath all the pain and stress she felt, she knew that this year would definitely be a long one.